Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Neural-Interfaced Exoskeletons


Paralysed man moves in mind-reading exoskeleton
Oct 2019, BBC News

Progress marches on, this time wearing a neural interfaced exoskeleton.

This gentleman injured his spinal cord in a fall and lost the ability to walk. Scientists are letting him experiment with this pretty astonishing technology.

He first learned how to use the setup via an avatar; he would mentally control the video game character, making it move with only his thoughts of movement. Eventually he put on the actual suit and began making it move with his thoughts.

Caveats? The suit is attached to a ceiling harness, so he doesn't fall over. It's not that good yet. Also, this is super hi-tech, which means it's not available to pretty much anyone. And note that here we are talking about mind-controlled exoskeletons and yet around the world, 85% of people with a disability don't have a wheelchair.

image source: labreche_fondsdedotationclinatec

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